


Not what I expected

by Fuckmedaddy



Series: Cody's Journey [1]
Category: Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:08:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 13,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuckmedaddy/pseuds/Fuckmedaddy
Summary: After the catastrophic events of Rescue Boy, Cody got checked out and nothing seemed wrong. After another accident a few differences start showing up, and different people.(This is re-written because I don't like the "old" version and I'm bored with it)
Relationships: Cody Burns & Original Male Character(s)
Series: Cody's Journey [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786441
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	1. Mornin'

I woke up this morning still feeling tired, like I never went to sleep at all. I yawned and stretched and slowly inched out of bed.  
Today's a Monday, I don't really hate them, they're just kind of boring. Even on Griffin Rock.  
I put on my jeans, green shirt, bomber jacket, and white shoes. I combed my hair like usual and walked downstairs.  
I shifted Dani's coffee cup so she wouldn't miss it. It's happened too many times.  
"Maybe you should go to sleep earlier Dani." I teased her.  
"Shut up, I need coffee." She grumbled, while overfilling the cup. I rolled my eyes at her and moved on.  
I poured a bowl of cereal and grabbed a spoon.  
"Today's a slow day, huh?" Dad chuckled trying to make conversation. Dani and I nodded.  
Kade ran in to get his freshly burnt toast and tossed it in his mouth.  
"Ugh how do you eat that?" Dani groaned.  
Kade smirked. "You know, I just put it in my mouth."  
"Real mature." Dani grumbled.  
Most of the time I stay out of the morning conversations, I don't really have anything to say anyway.  
Dad looked at his watch. "Come on Cody we've gotta go get you to school."  
I snatched my book bag out of the floor and onto my shoulder. Dad and I went down the bunker.  
"Good morning Cody, Cheif Burns." Chase greeted us with his somehow monotoned excitement.  
"Mornin' Chase." Dad said, and I nodded at him.  
He drove us to school.  
Right now it's the middle of my freshman year in highschool. It's been okay so far, but it's really loud even though there's not a lot of people. Everbody knows everybody so I think that adds something to anything dramatic that happens around here.

I felt and heard a loud clap on my shoulder, I yelped in surprise.  
Someone laughed behind me. "You sure are jumpy Cody!" Frankie laughed at me.  
I rolled my eyes with a small smile. "Real funny Frankie."  
She shrugged, "It's one of my strong suits." She joked.

We walked down the crowded halls to head to our classes. "See ya later," Frankie called to me and walked into Mrs. Dune's class.  
I waved and turned around, as soon as my face turned to the front I slammed right into someone else.  
"Oh sorry." I apologized quickly, rubbing my forehead.  
"It's alright." He said, he had a sort of thick accent, it sounded more like 'eats ulrate.' It took me a second to understand what he was saying.  
I looked up at him, he was a lot taller than me like he was a giant he had to be above six feet tall. He had curly light brown hair, shiny brown skin, and small eyes that were a piercing green, he also wore a light green stud in each ear.  
"I've never seen him around here before, he must be new."  
"You're staring." He told me bluntly. I jerked backwards and I could feel my face turning a bright red. "Oh sorry. Didn't mean to." He sort of squinted at me like he was wondering "What the hell is wrong with this guy?"  
"Okay." He said. He brushed past me and as much as he could, disappered down the hall.  
I swallowed hard with nervousness and confusion, and quickly walked off.  
"Well fuck, I'm stupid." I muttered to myself. I walked down the hall to Mr. Adams' class, trying to forget about what just happened.


	2. Well this is awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes sitting and doing nothing, isn't relaxing.

For the whole rest of the day my mind kept playing back that awkward interraction that I had with that new guy.  
I walked to my last class period of the day. "Geez, maybe I won't see him at school again?" I hoped. Knowing that Griffin Rock is a small town, I'd certainly see him at some point.  
But as soon as I sat in my desk with Frankie on my left, all of my hopes were just dashed.  
My Biology teacher (Mrs. Gale) was talking to that same guy that I had bumped into earlier.  
I silently hoped and prayed that she wouldn't put him in the vacant seat next to mine, but the only other desk in the back was basically torn apart.  
"Well, go ahead and sit beside Cody." I heard her say. "Damn!" I thought. "What's the matter?" Frankie asked me. "I shook my head, "Nothing really."  
Frankie looked like she didn't believe me, but left me alone.  
Mrs. Gale handed him some papers and he walked over to his new desk.  
When he caught me staring he flashed me a smile (to my surprise).   
"Is that a habit of yours?" He asked, laughing a little.  
I immediately popped up and hit my knee on the bottom of my desk.  
"Oh ouch!" I muttered. He cringed.  
"Um no, not usually." I told him nervously.  
"Right." He smirked this time. He had kind of sharp teeth and braces.  
"I'm Cody!" I blurted out loudly by accident. I clapped my hand over my mouth, realized what I did and let it go.  
"Cody Burns."  
He chuckled. "Is it that funny?" I thought, feeling embarrassed.  
"Ryden Torik." He replied. He stuck out his hand, and I shook it with the hand that I hadn't touched my mouth with.  
I cleared my throat. "So Ryden, are you new around here?" I asked him.  
He looked congused for a moment, "In what context?" He asked.  
I raised my eyebrow, "What? What do you mean context?" I asked him.  
"You know the circumstances that for-"  
I cut him off, "I know what the word Context means, but like, what do you need context for?" I asked kind of sharply.  
"I'm just not sure what you mean." He said.  
I thought a little.  
"I mean, how long have you been here in Griffin Rock?" I told him.  
A look that just said "Oh that!" Washed over his face.  
"Oh okay, I get it. Um not long, I just moved here last week." He said.  
"I wonder why I didn't notice." I thought.  
"We live on the far side of the island." He replied, it was almost as if he had read my thoughts.  
"Oh cool. What do you think of it so far?"  
Ryden looked slightly uncomfortable.   
"Dunno, it's just quiet....and cleaner." He told me.  
"Uhh is that a good thing?" I asked him.  
He shrugged.  
We didn't talk for the rest of the class period. "Well that could've gone a lot worse." I thought. The whole time though, I felt like somebody was looming over me.

"Oh man, that was a real treat Cody!" Frankie laughed.  
"Yeah yeah." I muttered.  
She calmed down to talk more. "What made you so nervous around him? It was like you just shrunk and deformed." She told me.  
"Well that's one way to put it, but I don't really know." I said.  
"Right! You just don't wanna tell me!" She said with a shit eating grin.  
"Ah, shut up!" I laughed.  
We walked towards her house before I had to go alone to mine, when suddenly a loud "BOOM" came from the woods. Fire sprung up from the trees and bellowed smoke.  
"Looks like another crazy rescue." Frankie remarked.  
There was one thing that looked very off to me that made it worrying.  
The fire was bright blue.


	3. Roll to the rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boy, fire is pretty hot.

Crowds of people were running to looks at the far away scene, cameras were flashing, and everyone was yelling over each other. It was crazy, even though the fire was on the far side of the island.

Wait didn't Ryden say he lived over there?

I turned on my com link.  
"Cody are you alright?" Dad asked me, sounding very concerned.  
"Yeah I'm okay, but there's someone over there that you guys should check in on." I told him.  
"We're on that already, they live around where the fire started." Dad said.  
I heard the whirring of Blades' well blades overhead.   
"I'm sure he'll be okay." I thought.  
Suddenly an explosion sounded through the air and shook the ground. Red-hot rocks shot up from the fire and smoke and begin to crash in the streets and neighborhood.  
"Blurr, Salvage" Dad said, "We need your help with the fire, something strange is-" the com link cut off, leaving the sound of static.  
I started to run home to get there before Blurr and Salvage left.  
As the door opened and they changed to vehicle mode, I stopped them.  
"Wait guys, take me with you!" I pleaded.  
"Cody, I don't think that's a good idea." Salvage said.  
"Yeah, you could get hurt or something." Blurr added.  
It was clear that they wouldn't take me, so I "gave up."  
"Okay, good luck guys."

Even though I knew that everything was probably fine, something still seemed so sourly wrong.  
I looked back at the firehouse, and against my typically better judgment, I decided to travel to the other side of the island.


	4. What's going on?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events on the other side of the island aren't exactly what Cody expected.

Since Griffin Rock isn't a large area, there isn't much ground to cover. The ground is still treacherous however.  
"Maybe I'm just overreacting, I bet Dad's com just ran out of battery power. Yeah that's it!" But despite trying to talk myself out of this, my legs still kept moving practically on their own.  
The crackling of the fire slowly became louder.   
"They haven't put that out yet?" I thought.   
I could feel the heat around me, if this wasn't dangerous it'd be pretty cozy.  
I tied my jacket around my waist so that I wouldn't overheat and kept going.  
I heard coughing and wheezing from up ahead, "Dad? Dad? Where are you?" Followed by another sickening cough.  
"It's Kade!" I thought.  
"Kade!" I called out as I ran towards the coughs. From the choking sound alone it sounded like he was suffocating. I might not be able to get him out of whatever trouble he's in.  
As I ran, the heat become burning the air was hot and smoky. I covered my face in my shirt. "If I'm this far back, how deep in is he?" I was starting to feel more worried than before.  
It was becoming hard to see at the smoke became thicker. My shirt couldn't hold up in this disaster, but it's better than nothing.  
Another explosion came from the fire. Smoke blasted into my face and pushed my back. I was surprised and I let go of my shirt. The smoke blew into my face, I couldn't breathe.  
As I collapsed to the ground and started to black out. An uprooted tree flew through the air towards me. After hearing a deafening crunch, I was out.


	5. Please tell me this doesn't happen often.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'd feel like a disney princess if the woods weren't on fire.

My vision came back blurry, but it was better than nothing.  
"Oh wait, I'm alive!" I initially thought. "Hold on, who's carrying me?"  
I looked up to see the same piercing green eyes fron earlier.  
"Aw crap." I thought.  
"Oh you're awake, are you okay?" Ryden asked me. He didn't sound like he was doing any kind of work.  
"Yeah, but um where are we going?" I asked him.  
"Away from the fire." He said. "You almost got crushed by a tree back there, what were you doing?" He said sternly.  
I told him half of the truth. "Mostly running on impulse."  
He rolled his eyes at me.  
"Please tell me this doesn't happen often." He said.  
"Nope, just every other day."  
He looked at me like he was really confused.  
"You're kidding, right?" He asked.  
"Sort of." I said with a goofy smile.  
"Geez." He muttered.  
"You good to stand?" He asked me, honestly that's one of the weirdest ways I've heard it.  
"Okay good, you should probably go back to your place while they put the fire out." Ryden suggested as some of the flames started to go out.  
I nodded at him. "Yeah okay." I said.  
He waved at me with a light smile as I turned away.  
"Yeah I'm never doing that again." I thought as I waved back.


	6. New friend?

The next day came around like always. Just another Tuesday going back to school like usual.  
Dad drove me. The whole time I mostly just looked out the window listening to music.  
I forgot how short the drive over there is.

"Bye Cody, I'll see you later today." Dad said.  
I picked up my bookbag and looked back at him with a small smile. "Yeah, see ya later Dad."

I guess yesterday really wore me out, I just wanted to go back to bed and stay there the whole day. Sadly I have too much work to be able to do that.

"Hey Cody!" A familiar voice called out to me.  
I turned around and Saw Ryden walking towards me, waving with a big smile on his face.

"Hey." I said.  
"You alright? You seem worn out." Ryden commented.  
"Yeah I'm good." I answered.  
"Well that's good." Ryden said.

We walked in an awkward silence for a few seconds before Ryden started talking again.

"So, how long have you lived here?" Ryden asked.  
"Literally my whole life." I told him.  
Ryden seemed interested. "Really? Wow."  
"What's so interesting about that?" I asked him.  
"I've never stayed anywhere for more than three years. My family moves around a lot." Ryden said, scratching his head.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Are you a military kid, or something like that?" I asked.  
"Well, something like that." He said vaguely.  
"What's that like then?" I asked, suddenly feeling less tired.  
"Like I said we move around a lot, so I meet a lot of different people, learn the basics of a lot of languages, and don't stay anywhere for too long. It's not always fun, but it's never boring." He explained.

I nodded. "Sounds like a lot."  
"Yeah." He muttered.

Another silence followed, but not as long this time.  
"So I was wondering, since I have to get used to this place and you're the only one I've really talked too...maybe you could show me around?" He asked hopefully.

I thought for a moment. I don't have that much on my plate after school and it might be cool to talk to him more.

"Sure, just give me you're number so we can plan stuff out." I said.  
He looked confused for a second and then I guess he realised what I was saying.  
"Right...phone number." He muttered, not entirely to himself.  
Quickly, he wrote down his number in big numbers on an index card and handed it to me. It was neat writing, but gigantic. I'm guessing that was on purpose so that I could actually see it or something.  
I wrote mine down and gave it to him.  
"Okay, I'll text you after school." I told him. "Now I've gotta go to class, see ya later Ryden."  
He gave me a small wave. "Bye."

"Well that was less awkward than yesterday and he seems pretty cool. Maybe we'll be friends." I thought. When I thought of his face as he smiled at me, I could feel my face turning bright red like a tomato.

"Weird." I thought to myself, touching my face as I walked into my class just before the bell rang.


	7. Texting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I have idea how to write out texts. Sorry if it looks weird or if it's hard to understand.

That night, Cody followed through with texting Ryden. He felt a strange rush as he typed him in as a new contact, but just brushed it off as nervousness.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Guy

("Hey") 

New Guy ("Hi")

It surprised him that Ryden answered so quick. Maybe he was "nervous" too.

("So when are you free?")

New Guy (".....Free?")  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe knowing so many languages was messing him up? Or maybe he just didn't know slang.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

("Like when are you free to do things. You know, when do you have free time?")

New Guy ("Oh! Okay.)  
("I'm good Friday from 6:00pm - 12:00am and  
Saturday whenever.")

("Saturday is my day off. When should we go?")

New Guy ("How about  
from 3:00pm to 5:00pm?  
The island isn't big, so a tour.  
shouldn't talk too long".)

("Sounds good to me. We'll have fun.")

New Guy ("Yeah, we wouldn't want it to be a  
boring tour.")

("I'm guessing you think you're funny.")

New Guy ("Correction, I know I'm funny.")

("I'll take your word for it.")

New Guy ("Pfft!")  
("I'll show you!")  
("My pops is calling  
me for food. I've gotta go for.  
now. It was nice talking to you Cody.")

("You text so formally! Anyway, see ya tomorrow Ryden.)

-Read-

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cody smiled brightly at his screen and he felt his heart soar. He read the texts over and over again as if they'd change before his eyes. Until suddenly, he realized what he was doing.

"Fuck."


	8. The Grand Tour

At 2:30pm Cody pulled on a pair of blue jeans, a green shirt, his bomber jacket, the closest shoes that he could find and parted his hair in his usual style.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ryden Torik

("Let's meet up at the docks. Do you know where they are.")

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryden didn't respond, but he did leave him on read. "Well, okay then?" Cody muttered to himself.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryden Torik ("Whoops, sorry. I forgot to  
respond. Yeah I know where the docks are.")

("Okay, good, I'll see you there.")

Ryden Torik ("Mm-hm")

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cody felt a wave of relief wash over him. "I guess he's not ignoring me, he's just stupid....oh wait, that's mean." He thought.  
He double checked his hair and Jacket again, before heading downstairs.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Dani asked him as she poured herself some milk.

"The docks, I'm meeting up with a friend." Cody told her.

"Don't forget to take your phone with you, and come back home before 9." Chief Burns instructed.

Cody nodded, "Okay, bye guys!"

To leave faster, he walled out of the front door instead of out of the bunker door. A rush of excitement hit him like the wind in his face as he jogged outside.

He got to the docks at 2:59 after losing track of time and taking the long way around. Panting, he looked around for Ryden, but he didn't see him anywhere.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

("Are you here yet?")

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryden didn't even read the text and still wasn't around. Maybe he was running late.  
Cody decided to wait by a few crates and watch YouTube videos to pass the time.  
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He squeaked and whiped around, nearly slapping Ryden in the face.

"Hey." Ryden said as he caught Cody's hand in front of his face.  
"Just "hey"? You scared the shit outta me!" Cody exclaimed.  
"Sorry about that, I didn't expect you to be that surprised." Ryden said sheepishly. "Are you okay?" He asked.  
Cody nodded. "I'm good. Why didn't you text me that you were here though?"  
Ryden shrugged. "I kinda forgot, sorry."

Cody noticed that Ryden was hunched over awkwardly to be eye level with him. It was kind of funny, but he held back his laughs  
"You don't have to bend over to talk to me, it's kinda weird." Cody said.  
Ryden immediately snapped up with a red face.  
"Sorry, I'm used to doing that?" He said.  
Cody raised his eyebrow with a confused half smile.

"But why?" He asked.  
"My mom does tells me to get on her level or she grabs a stool when she scalds me." Ryden explained.  
"Pfft! Is she short?" He asked.  
"Not quite as short as you, but shorter than me." Ryden said.  
"Short? I'm no where near short!" Cody retorted. "Just how tall are you anyway you old beanstalk." He started to laugh, not being able to take himself seriously.  
Ryden just looked confused.  
"I'm not exactly sure, I'm not used to hu-american units of measurement. I know you're the tallest guy I've met so far though." He said.  
"I can help with that then." Cody offered.

He looked at his phone, it was 3:33pm.  
"Oh crap, we're burning daylight buddy. Let's get to the tour already!" Cody urged.  
"Okay, we can discuss measurement later." Ryden suggested.  
"Is that all you took away from this?" Cody laughed.  
Ryden shrugged. "Well you made me feel intrigued."

Finally, they started down the neighborhood.  
"That's the Rubio's place. If you ever go driving, be careful of Mrs. Rubio. She drives, like really slow. Like a snail." Cody explained.  
"A sna-ah-oh! Ok, got it." Ryden uttered.  
Cody chuckled, "You're funny Ryden."  
He noticed Ryden's face turn slightly red. "Thanks Cody."  
Cody looked like a clown's nose. He covered his face with his hands.  
"Anyway, that's Don's house. He drives at least thirty above the speed limit." Cody added.  
"Is Griffin Rock full of bad drivers Cody?"  
And there it was again.  
"Um Nah, not really. The ones that do drive like shit, do make my family's jobs harder though." Cody explained.  
"What do they do?" Ryden asked.  
"My dad's the Chief of police here, My oldest brother's a fireman, my sister is a pilot and Emt, and my youngest brother is an engineer." Cody said, counting each family member off with his fingers.  
"Do you have a job?" Ryden asked.  
"Nope, not yet. I am thinking about getting one during the summer though." Cody answered.  
"That's nice. So what else is there in Griffin rock?" Ryden asked curiously.

Over the course of about two hours, the duo ended up doing minor rock climbing, marveling over the Mayor's suspiciously expensive home, watching kids fall at the park, and helping Mrs. Neederlander get Mr. Pettypaws out of his usual tree.  
Eventually, they ended up sitting barefoot on the beach in front of the ocean, watching the sunset.

Cody looked at the time, 6:15pm.  
"We ran overtime." He said.  
"Maybe so, but it was fun. We should do it again sometime." Ryden replied.  
"Another tour? There isn't much more to see." Cody said.  
Ryden shrugged. "It doesn't matter much to me, you're fun to be around." He said softly.  
Cody blushed. "Thanks.." He mumbled.  
Ryden chuckled at his reaction.  
"So...since you've traveled the world, can you tell me any stories that you picked up?" Cody asked.  
Ryden smiled. "I'll tell you what, we come back to the beach next Saturday and I'll tell you some of my adventures." He bargained.  
Cody smiled back. "Sounds good to me."  
"Well then it's a date." Ryden replied, smiling brighter.  
In another turn of events, as they were just inches from each other's faces, droplets of rain began to fall, turning into a downpour.

"Aw crap." Cody muttered, popping up from his spot on the beach.  
Ryden laughed as Cody helped him up.  
"I guess that's my cue to go, but I can walk you home if you want." He said.  
"No it's alright, I'll be fine on my own." Cody declined.  
"Well if you're sure, I guess I'll see you around Cody." Ryden said as he backed away.  
"Bye!" Cody called out to him.  
Ryden smiled and waved as he turned around.  
Cody held his phone close to his chest and pulled his hood over his head as he left.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Quin

("So you know that Ryden guy I was talking about?")

Quin ("So you finally admit that you like him, eh?")

("Dude shut up, I haven't even said anything yet!")

Quin("Your face always say it though.)  
Quin("You should come over to my place tonight, Sean's coming. And bring Frankie too.")  
Quin("We'll watch movies. Maybe even anime if your weeb ass is lucky.")

("Okay, okay, I'll come over!)  
(And I'm not a fucking weeb!")

Quin("Right.")  
(Shut up! Bye!)

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	9. A little blast from the past

Cody told Quin and Frankie everything he could about his meet ups with Ryden. He felt like he'd never stop.

"This guy seems like major boyfriend material to me!" Frankie commented.

"Yeah, I think so too. Dude basically asked you out!" Quin agreed.

"Maybe, but I don't even know if he likes guys." Cody reminded his friends.

"You should ask him next time then or something." Sean piped up.

"Yeah, I guess so. Wouldn't wanna get my hopes up over a straight guy." Cody agreed.

Quin suddenly pointed behind him. "Giant man, incoming!" He warned Cody.

When Cody turned around, Ryden was walking right towards their lunch table with a grin on his face. Cody immediately froze up when he took a seat on his right.

"Hiya." He greeted the group.

Sean, Frankie, and Quin looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

"These dummies." Cody thought to himself.

"Hey." Frankie said.

"I didn't know you had this lunch time." Cody brought up.

Ryden looked sheepish, "I had been sitting with some my classmates from P.E. before today. I just never saw you over here." He said.

Cody heard snickers from Frankie and the guys on the other side of the table.

"So Ryden, are you seeing anyone?" Frankie asked slyly.

"Frankie!" Cody whispered harshly.

"What do you mean by seeing?" Ryden asked, looking confused.

"You know, are you dating anybody." Quin pushed further.

Ryden shook his head. "No, not at the moment. Why?" He asked.

Sean shrugged. "Well maybe if you're interested in guys, we could help you out."

Ryden mostly looked more confused. "Maybe if things don't work out, but I already have someone in mind right now." He said.

"Oh, who!?" Frankie asked excitedly.

"I'll say if things work out." Ryden told her.

And then after what seemed like 2 seconds of lunch time, the bell rang for them to go back to class.

"I'll see you guys later, you seem cool. Bye Cody." Ryden said all at once before leaving in the opposite direction.

"Oh my god, you guys are awful." Cody said with an eyeroll.

"But on the bright side it seems like you have a chance." Quin said.

"If you didn't scare him away." Cody commented.

"I doubt it, he still singled you out." Franlie said.

"You should go after him." Sean said.

Cody rolled his eyes. "Maybe."

After that, through the rest of class Cody had pretty much zoned out. Thinking back on something that'd happened a couple years ago. Kind of how he's gotten to be friends with Quin and Sean.

Quinton Jackson, or just Quin as he liked to be called had been a freshman in highschool two years before. Cody was in the seventh grade and not exactly put together.  
When he was around Quin in lad pioneers, he couldn't help but feel drawn to him. He never expected his first real crush to be another boy. He denied it for a while, but eventually it was too much for his little heart to handle.  
So after Lad Pioneers it was just the two of them, cleaning up after the others. Cody decided to tell Quin how he felt.

"Hey Quin?" He asked, hearing his voice tremble.

"Yeah, what's up?" Quin asked, not looking up from his work.

"I think....I think I might like you." He struggled to say.

Quin stayed silent for a bit with a red face, trying to process what he'd heard. When he finished wiping down one of the tables he walked over to Cody.

"I'm not exactly sure what to say about that. You're a little young for me, plus I'm already seeing someone." He said.

"Oh." Cody murmered.

Quin brought him closer in a side hug. "But we could be friends, I could even take you under my wing. You know like to talk if you want. I guess."

Cody sniffled. "Thanks." He said.

"It's nothing. I kind of already knew though." Quin told him.

"Huh? How?" Cody asked.

"You stare, like a lot." Quin chuckled.

Cody couldn't help but laugh too. "Oh, yeah. I guess I do."

Quin smiled. "But seriously, I'm here if you want to talk or anything. Platonically." He added.

Cody wiped a stray tear off of his face. "Yeah, I'd like that."

So they stayed friends. Quin was seeing another Freshmen. Sean Applegate. A tiny redhead with a bed sense of direction, who couldn't lie to save his life. He was pretty nice and got jabs in wherever he could.  
At first Cody was jealous of him, but after really becoming friends with both of them. He got over it soon enough.

After a while he was in his next class, still thinking. When Ryden suddenly pushed him out of his own head.  
"Your friends are really funny people." Ryden said with a bright smile.  
"Thanks, that's totally all my doing." Cody joked.  
Ryden rolled his eyes. "Somehow, I'm not surprised." He joked back.


	10. Feeling petty

Cody spent about twenty more minutes than necessary , making sure his hair was extra neat. He had dug into his closet for clothes that he didn't usually wear. He settled on a black leather jacket with red zippers (like a lot of them), a white t-shirt, ripped blue jeans, and black converse that he didn't know he had (plus a plain black baseball cap.)  
He turned around in the mirror looking himself over. "Is it too much?" He wondered.  
"Nah it's good, for something I've never been seen in before." He thought.  
"Cody Come on! You need to go to school." Cheif Burns called him.  
"Right, I almost forgot." He muttered.  
He quickly swung his bookbag over his shoulder and walked out of his room.

Feeling pretty good, despite it being a usual Monday Cody walked down the stairs with his head and shoulders up a little higher than usual.  
"Woah, what's with the sudden change of style Cody?" Dani asked with a surprised smile on her face.  
"Just felt like it." Cody answered.  
"You look good." Graham complimented.  
"Trying to impress someone?" Kade asked with a smirk as he ate yet another piece of burnt toast.  
Cody blushed. "Um. No." He uttered.  
Kade nodded. "Uh huh." He chuckled.  
"Shut up Kade!" Cody exclaimed defensively.  
"Okay that's enough chit chat for now, get yourself on to school Cody. The bell rings in only eight minutes." Cheif Burns instructed, looking at his watch.  
"Yeah okay dad. Bye guys." Cody said as he took his house keys.  
"Later Cody!" Graham said.  
"Go get her Romeo!" Kade teased.  
"Yeah whatever Kade." Cody said back as he shut the door.

"Finally, he wore something other than that damned orange shirt." Dani muttered.  
"You mean green." Graham corrected her.  
"I guess I still haven't drank enough coffee yet." Dani said.  
"Jesus." Cheif Burns muttered.

Cody sppedwalked over to school, excited for the day to start.  
"Hey Cody." Frankie greeted him.  
"Hey, what's up Frankie?" He said.  
"Not much, Cece almost got my phone fried this morning." She took another look at him. "Nice clothes." She said.  
Cody gave her a nod. "Thanks."

Not long after, Cody sat through his classes like usual. Waiting for when his day really started. He couldn't get Ryden out of his head. Not that he was complaining though.  
After what seemed like an eternity of boring lectures and a loud lunch time. (Cody and Ryden only had B-day lunch together and today was unfortunately A-day on the schedule.) Cody was finally on his way to social studies, when he saw a familiar boy around the corner walking from the other side of the hall.  
"So any chance we could go get a bite sometime? Where do you like to go?"   
Priscilla Pynch was attached to Ryden's arm, looking up at him longingly.  
"Well I'm pretty new to the island, I'm not quite sure yet." Ryden said, looking for an escape route.  
"Oh, well I could show you around." Priscilla urged, holding him tighter.  
"Great, now she's literally trying to "pynch" my man. Wait my man? I'm not even dating him. Aw geez." He thought.  
"Thanks, but I've already got someone for that." He said.  
"Maybe it'd be better with two people showing you around. That way, you'll get my amazing attention to detail when we walk around the island." She insisted.  
"I'll think about it, but I've got to get to class. See you around Priscilla." Ryden unlatched her arm and made his escape.  
"Okay, I'll see you later Ryden." She gave him a small wave and turned away to walk to her class.  
Before Ryden saw him, Cody quickly went to his seat in the classroom. Ryden came over not long after.

"Hey." Ryden said.  
"Hey." Cody replied blankly.  
"Cool outfit, looks good on you." Ryden complimented him through a bright smile.  
"Thanks." Cody muttered.  
They paused awkwardly.  
"You're friends with Priscilla?" Cody asked.

"What Am I doing?" He thought to himself.

Ryden cringed. "Not really, she seems.....nice though. Why?" He asked.  
"Oh nothing, just saw her ganging around you today." Cody said.  
Ryden smirked. "What, you jealous?" He asked playfully.  
"N-no. Of course not!" Cody tried to defend himself.  
Ryden gave him a once over and rolled his eyes. "Well okay then." He laughed.  
"Are we still going to the beach tonight?" Ryden asked.  
Cody nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't just call it off last minute. Sorry for asking weird questions." He said.  
Ryden shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I didn't take offense to it."

"Okay class stop talking, we need to work." The teacher said at the front of the classroom.  
Cody however, was still distracted. "Maybe I should just get it out of my system tonight. I don't wanna act like a jealous bitch." He thought.


	11. Rendezvous

Cody and Ryden sat on the beach, letting the waves lap at their feet and looking at the sky about them. Cody had ditched the jacket and cap for now, since it was kind of a lot.  
"I heard Frankie say something about the "R.B." incident. What is that?" Ryden asked.  
"Oh. Cody scratched his head. "Well, that's an interesting story."  
"Uh huh." Ryden stared intently, waiting for Cody to continue.  
"So a few years ago when I was a kid-"  
"We're still technically kids." Ryden said.  
"Hush child, don't interrupt me." Cody faked a serious tone.  
"Anyway. My dad was really worried about me, so he had Doc Greene (Frankie's dad) make me something to protect me from possible danger. It was like a tiny walkie-talkie lookin' device that created a sort of energy field aroubd me that deflected objects. I dunno, it's been a while, the details are foggy." Cody explained.

"That sounds cool." Ryden said.

"Yeah it was. Though the only thing that I focused on was what it did when I pushed it to the red zone. Now ya don't want to have anything on the red zone really, but especially not gere on Griffin Rock." He continued.

"So what'd it do?" Ryden asked with interest.

"Well, when I turned it to the red zone the force it put it was magnified. Deflecting and breaking large object including a crate that doc used to test its strength. The energy was so high it made me float and you could see like a yellow force field around me." He said.

"So where does the incident come in Cody?" Ryden asked impatiently.

"I was getting to that man! So I thought that this was really cool and all, so I got a little. I mean when I say a little I mean really, really reckless. I went crazy with it "saving people" and "helping" under the Alias Rescue Boy!" Cody explained.

"Oh!" Ryden said as he got what R.B. meant.

"Yep! My dad decided that I was really just putting myself in more danger (which I was) and took it away from me. Being a dumbass I didn't listen to him and took it back, but I had turned it to the red zone too much. So when I used it to help someone out again, it shorted out and started to destroy everything around me. It was really scary honestly, and it took a while for my family to save me, but they did. It let out a burst of energy when they got me out, and it broke. I actually have a scar from it on my chest." He explained, rubbing said chest.   
"But anyway, that's the story of the R.B. incident. My dad or one of the bots could probably tell it better, but that's all you're getting from me right now." He finished.

Ryden looked at him with wide eyes. "So, does stuff like that happen a lot?" He asked.  
"Pretty much every day around here. You probably don't see much of it since you don't live in town." Cody replied.  
Ryden nodded sternly.

Unexpectedly, Cody heard his phone ring. "Ugh, what?" He muttered.  
He opened his phone up to see that he had five missed calls, three voice mails, and seven text from his dad.  
Then he looked at the time.  
"Oh shit, it's midnight!" Cody exclaimed.  
"Wait really?" Ryden asked, he looked at his phone too.  
"Oh." He said when he saw the time.  
"My dad's gonna kill me!" Cody said with his hands on his head.

Quickly he picked up his shoes and his jacket.   
"Will you be alright getting home, I can walk you?" Cody asked, pulling on his socks.  
"I'm good, but thanks." Ryden said.  
Cody paused for a moment after he had pulled on both of his shoes.  
"Hey Ryden?" He asked.  
Ryden looked up at him from his phone.  
"Yeah?"  
"Before I go, I have something else to say." Cody told him, moving his bangs out of his eyes.  
Ryden pressed his lips together and stood like he was bracing himself for something.  
The sky lit up a little behind them, with a pale blue light that obviously wasn't the sun.

"Well spit it out then." Ryden said sternly.  
"I-"  
Suddenly sounds like fire crackers erupted from the sky. However, from how the sky was exploding, it was no fourth of July funtimes ahead.

The sky burned their eyes with a pale blue and the sea had begun to grow wild.  
As soon as Cody was about to turn to run, a rogue wave suddenly crashed and pulled him into the water from where he stood.  
"Cody!" Ryden called out to him. He tried to grab Cody's hand, but just barely missed.  
The waves crashed and pulled him out further as Ryden tried to run to him. In his haste, he tripped on a sharp shell, leaving a deep wound on his left foot.  
Cody struggled to keep his head above the water. The waves pushed him down and spun him around like an oversized laundry cycle.  
He gasped for air, trying to see how far out he was.  
He could barely see Ryden, calling for help.  
Lightning crashed above him and thunder cut through his ears as he was thrown under water again.  
He battled it and came back up. Only to see a something blindingly blue through his watery eyes. He felt a crushing impact on his chest from water and a hard object and then, hearing the water start to become calm around him. He blacked out, slowly sinking under the once crashing waves.


	12. The rescue

Ryden felt lucky that Chief Burns had come around looking for his son. In tears, he blubbered and pointed to the sea barely able to say "Cody." Chase realized and he immediately and frantically jumped into action.   
Chief handed Ryden (who was absolutely soaked) his rain coat to protect him as he shook with fear.

"I've found him!" Chase exclaimed. He quickly pulked Cody from the water and brought him to shore.

The boy was unconscious and his face was a sickly shade of blue.  
Chief Burns immediately started to CPR. At first Cody didn't respond and stayed completely still and cold. Tears welled up in Chief Burn's eyes, but he continued. Ryden watched in horror as he heard Cody ribs pop and crack. Would his new friend be alright? He gripped Chief's rain coat tightly as he he watched im horror through the heavy rain. Chase stood over him with his arms folded, and a hardened face.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Cody burst into a coughing fit. Spitting up all of the water that he had inhaled earlier.  
Chief hugged Cody and then picked him up. "Chase transform into vehicle mode! We have to take Cody to the hospital."   
Wordlessly, Chase transformed.

Chief looked down at his hand when he felt something warm on it. At first, he thought that maybe Cody was starting to warm up. Until he saw a large spot of blood on his hand.  
"Oh Gosh. No." He whispered to himself.  
"Can I come along?" Ryden asked in a tremouring voice.  
Chief didn't hesitate. "Hop in."  
Chief laid Cody down in the back of the car and Ryden quickly got into the passenger seat.  
Chase turned on his sirens as drove as fast as he could to the hospital.  
Chief called Kade over his phone and told him to meet him out of the hospital. Ryden could hear Kade panicking over the phone.

The car ride was silent other than the sirens and stiff with worry.


	13. Afterwards

As soon as Chase pulled up to the hospital, the EMT's immediately rushed out and put Cody (who was still unconscious) on a stretcher and ran him into the building.  
Chief Burns got out of the car and not really knowing what else to do, Ryden followed cautiously.  
Just after them Heatwave, Blades, and Boulder rushed over.  
"Chief what happened!?" Boulder asked.  
"Dad, is Cody okay?" Kade asked.  
Chief turned to Ryden. "Do you want to explain it or do you want me to do it?" He asked.  
Ryden paused for a moment. "I think I've got it." He said.  
"What is he saying?" Kade asked without thinking.  
Dani snapped her head towards him.  
"Dude!" She said harshly.  
"What? Oh.." Kade said with realisation.  
Ryden brushed it off. Knowing that a thick accent can be hard to understand. "Don't worry about it. I guess you should explain it then sir." He said to Kade and then Chief Burns.  
He nodded. "Alright then."  
They walked into the hospital waiting room as Chief explained the whole ordeal with a little help from Ryden on certain parts.

"So you're telling me, that some blue crap from outer space crashed into Cody?" Dani asked with disbelief.  
"I have no idea what it was." Ryden answered.  
Graham sighed with exhaustion. "Well, with all the alien things that have been happening on this island in these past years, it's at least plausible." He said.  
"How much longer are we gonna have to wait for a doctor to tell us what's going on?" Kade asked.  
"I'm not sure, he was in pretty bad shape when we got to him." Chief answered.  
The Burns family and company was silent for the rest of the time they were there.  
Finally at two o'clock in the morning, a doctor finally called them.  
The Burns family stood up to meet her.   
"Can I come too?" Ryden asked shyly.  
Chief thought for a moment and then silently nodded.

"We've got him in stable condition for now. However we've had to put him in an induced coma because there is too much strain on his heart and lungs at the moment. He doesn't have any head injuries thankfully, but he's broken seven ribs, his sternum, and his collar bone. It will take him at least three weeks to wake up and intense physical therapy once he does." Doctor Rios spouted.

Ryden had basically zoned out. On one hand, Cody had a good chance of surviving, on the other hand he wasn't exactly okay. If only he hadn't froze when this happened. Maybe he could've avoided being so badly injured. Maybe he could have gotten to finish what he was trying to say.  
"You alright son?" Chief sudden asked, cutting through his thoughts.  
He hadn't felt the hot tears running down his face. Once he had they just kept coming.  
"I'm sorry sir, this is all my fault. If I hadn't kept him out so late then this wouldn't have happened." He cried.  
Chief pulled him into a gentle side hug. "I don't blame you and it's no one's fault. It was an accident." He said to him.  
"Dad it's 2:43, I think one of us should take Ryden home." Dani said.  
Chief nodded. "You're right." He turned to Ryden. "Kade will take you home, your parents must be worried about you." He said.  
Ryden shook his head. "I don't want to go yet. I want to see Cody." He said.  
"Staying here won't help. You should go home and get some rest. You can come back tomorrow after school." Chief said.  
Ryden wanted to argue, but he knew it would be useless. Instead he just nodded and followed Kade out the door.

The drive home was awkward and a little too quiet for him.  
"You did good kid, don't take things to hard or anything." Kade muttered.  
"I think he means you're a good friend and try not to think about all this too hard. It really wasn't your fault." Heatwave said.  
"I don't need a translator Heatwave!" Kade retorted.  
"Sure." Heatwave teased.

The place where his house was seemed pretty strange. It was deep in the woods on the far side of the island and it was like Ryden just kept telling them to turn and move forward.  
"You're not trying to kill me are ya?" Kade asked.  
"What?" Ryden asked obliviously.  
"Nevermind." Kade said.  
Finally they stopped at a cobblestone path and an at least four story, stone house.  
"This is your place?" Kade asked.  
"Yep." Ryden said with a sharp nod.

Kade walked Ryden up to the doorstep and knocked on the door. Ryden looked like he was bracing himself for something.  
The door immediately slammed open.  
A very very tall asian woman stared down at both of them.  
"Mama..." He muttered.  
She wrapped him in a tight hug and let him go. As soon as she did, she started yelling at him in a language that Kade didn't understand.  
He just stood there awkwardly. Wondering if everyone in this kid's family was freakishly tall.  
Finally after her voice became hoarse from screaming she stopped and turned to Kade, who half expected to be verbally skinned alive next.  
Instead, she put her hand out for a handshake.  
"I'm Manu Torik. Why are you at my doorstep?" She said firmly.  
Kade shook as he explained the situation. Her hand was also freakishly large. She squeezed his hand the whole time he talked. He was sure that she was going to crush him.

"Oh my. I'm sorry about your younger sibling." She said, holding onto Ryden a little tighter.  
"It's alright, I just came to drop uh, your son off." Kade said.  
"Sorry, I forgot to ask for your name buddy." He continued.  
"I'm Ryden." He said, nearly hiding behind his mother.  
"Well Ryden, Mrs. Torik. Have a good night." He awkwardly tipped his hat and walked back to Heatwave.

"What a strange man." Mrs. Torik said.  
"He's alright." Ryden said.  
"Go on to bed, it looks like you've got a long day ahead of you boy." She told him.  
"Okay mom."


	14. School day

Ryden woke up feeling tired. It was 7:00am and he had only gotten about four hours of sleep.  
"Ugh." He groaned as he sat up.  
This is why he never stayed up late, now he had a headache.

"Oi! You're supposed to be up, you have to be at school by 8:55!" His sister shouted at him from downstairs

"You could've told me from the door instead of shouting Vashti!" He shouted back.

"Well look who's shouting now!" Vashti yelled.

"Shut up!" One of his other sisters yelled at both of them from her room.

Ryden rolled his eyes and pushed the covers off of him.  
Groggily, he went to brush his teeth and grabbed some yogurt and toast from the kitchen.  
His older brother, Kerchak was smacking on cereal at the table.  
"Do ya have to be so loud?" Vashti complained.  
Kerchak stopped smacking on his cereal, looked at her and then smacked even louder.  
"Good fucking god!" Vashti groaned, she took her strawberries and retreated to her room as Kerchak laughed.

"Aye, do you need a ride to school today?" Kerchak asked, still smacking on his cereal.  
Ryden thought for a moment, then realised that he didn't feel like riding around with this clown today.  
"Nah, I'm good bro." Ryden replied.  
Kerchak shrugged. "Suit yourself." And he continued to eat like a wild animal.  
"Ugh." Ryden grumbled to himself.  
Good old family bonding eh?

Without thinking too much about it, Ryden put on a pair of loose ripped jeans, white socks, white shoes, a white tanktop, and a thin light blue button down jean shirt that he left open.  
He put his hair in twists and started to walk out of the door.  
"Don't die out there son, this island's a mess." His dad said to him.  
"You got it dad." 

When you have freakishly long legs and endurance, it doesn't take long to get places.  
He couldn't get the night before out of his mind, he decided that he would go and see Cody as soon the school day was over.

He felt lucky that he never forgot to switch to speaking English at school, even more so that he knew the language.  
Whenever anyone asked about his accent, he'd just tell them it was because he'd bounced around from place to place as a kid and knew a lot of languages. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth either.

He walked into the small building like usual, but it felt a little smaller since Cody wasn't there with him.  
"Ugh stupid! Pull yourself together! I have work to do." He thought harshly.  
Because he was so tired and eager to be somewhere else, the day seemed to drag by much slower than usual. What was a little strange was that Priscilla wasn't here to bother him. Another thing was that Quin and Sean weren't here either.

At lunch he finally saw Frankie, who was looking pretty rough.  
Her hair was in a loose and messy afro-puff on top of her head, she had huge bags under her eyes, her lips were dry, and her right arm was in a cast.  
"Are you alright?" He asked her once she sat down at the table.  
"Yeah, just had a rough night." She said with a yawn.  
"What happened?" He asked her, hoping that he wasn't being nosy.  
"It was the strangest thing man. I was minding my own business and playing sitting on the balcony of my dad's lab when a storm started. Which was fine since it's just a little bit if rain until lighting struck a pole nearby!" She tried to raise her arm as she exclaimed her story.

"Ouch, too much. Dumb thing. Anyway, so instead of running like any sane person, I froze. The pole freaking fell on my arm and that's when I actually decided to run. I had to wrench my arm out of there. (I'm pretty sure my skin peeled off.) And when I was running, I saw something blue fall from the sky, not really sure why I was still looking, but whatever. Then my dad and Anna drove me to the hospital and I got ten stitches, a cleaning, and a cast because my forearm basically broke in half." She finished.

Ryden sat there, looking like he was having war flashbacks.  
"You good?" Frankie asked.  
He swallowed hard. "Uh, that's a wild story..." Ryden said.  
"Yeah." She said.  
"Why are you even at school today?" Ryden asked.  
Frankie shrugged. "I'm ambidextrous so I'll have no problem working, and when I miss school work tends to pile up on me, so I'm gonna stay." She said.  
"Well suit yourself, but don't push to hard." He said.  
"I'll try, but hey do you know where Cody is?" Frankie asked.  
Ryden cringed. "Well..."

"He's where? What!? Frankie freaked out after Ryden explained what had happened.  
"He's at the hospital in an induced coma, they think he'll be okay so I hope so." Ryden repeated.  
"Are you gonna go see him?" Frankie asked.  
Ryden nodded. "Yeah, are you?" He asked.  
"Obviously!" Frankie said.  
"Then we could go see him together." Ryden suggested.  
Frankie sat back down with he jaw dropped.  
"How are you so calm?" She asked him.  
"I'm not, just tired." He told her.  
"I get it, me too." Frankie sighed.

Luckily the afternoon went by faster then the morning, before he knew it the bell had rang.  
"Come on, let's go. I know a shortcut out of the school." Frankie said, pulling him along by the arm.  
"Okay." He said simply as they rushed out of the classroom.  
"No running in the halls!" Their teacher called out to them.


	15. Friend of a friend

Ryden and Frankie walked to the hospital together. Luckily for them, nothing was too far apart on this small Island.  
They had never really spent time together with just the two of them, so it was a bit awkward. They spent most of the walk silently walking next to each other.

"So...How long have you been on the Island?" Frankie asked, trying to make things a little less strange between the two of them.  
"A few months now. I moved here about two days brgore school started." Ryden answered.  
Frankie's eyes popped open. "Only two days? I've never moved anywhere, but that sounds exhausting. How'd you guys have time to unpack?" She asked.  
Ryden shrugged. "Most of my family tends to be pretty productive, mainly since we move around a lot." Ryden replied.  
"Really? Where have you guys been?" She asked with fascination.  
"All over. I've been to Greenland, Korea, China, Japan, France, India, and a lot more, but I don't want to bore you." He said.  
"Trust me it's not boring. I've hardly been anywhere else other than here." Frankie insisted.  
"Well sure, why not? It would be nice to talk more anyway." Ryden said.  
Frankie smiled with glee. 

They spent their time walking and in the waiting room talking about his life in many different places. It was all fun and games until the receptionist called their names.


	16. First visit

Frankie and Ryden cautiously walked in the ICU as a nurse led them to Cody's room. Ryden noticed that Frankie's hands were shaking.  
"Are you alright?" He asked her.  
She nodded, "Yeah, I'm just a little nervous." She said.  
"Ah." He said in understanding, "I get it."

"Visiting hours are over at 5:00pm." The nurse said as she left.  
"Lucky for us, it's only 3." Frankie said.  
Ryden nodded in agreement.

The two of them turned to where Cody lay in bed. There was machinery stuck in places all over his face and body. His heart beat was loud and quick. Hopefully not too quick.  
He was a bit pale and his lips were already becoming chapped.

Frankie's eyes overflowed with tears when she saw him like that.   
Ryden, not sure of what else to do brought her into a side hug and stayed quiet. He didn't want to possibly upset her any further.

"I wonder if he cand hear us." Frankie asked once she got a hold of herself. Though she still stayed under Ryden's arm, holding him tightly.  
Ryden shrugged. "I don't know, he might. Maybe is he can, we can keep him occupied." He said.  
Frankie looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. "How?" She asked.  
Ryden scratched his head, looking for something to say.  
"We could read to him, maybe tell him things that happened recently, or just I dunno talk." He said.  
Frankie nodded. "Yeah." She sniffled. "That sounds good to me."

They spent the afternoon talking to Cody and making stupid jokes. Even though he didn't respond, it felt oddly comforting whether he heard them or not.


	17. Everyone else

After a week all of Ryden's friends were back at school. It turns out that each one of them had also had a strange experience that same night.

Sean and Quin had been together in the woods that night when suddenly three healthy looking trees fell between them, causing them to be separated.  
Sean had been pinned by his left leg and Quin by his right.  
The rescue team got to them before they all knew about what happened with Cody. Quin came out of it was a shattered knee and broken femur, while Sean had only broken his foot.

"This is a really strange coincidence." Frankie said.  
"Did you guys see the blue thing too?" Ryden asked.

"Oh, before it landed in the water we thought is was a shooting star." Quin said.  
"Yeah obviously we saw it." Sean said sparing the details.

"I wonder if anyone else got injured." Frankie wondered aloud.  
Ryden nodded, "Yeah, it would be even more strange if it was just us." He replied.  
"So how's Cody doing?" Quin asked.  
"For being in a coma, he's doing pretty well. The nurses said that they've even seen him moving slightly sometimes. Maybe he'll wake up soon!" Frankie stated hopefully.

Before they could talk more, the bell rang and they all had to go their separate ways. Little did any of them know, things were about to get much more bizarre.


	18. You're kidding right?

It was midnight on a Saturday. Three months had passed, a lot longer than the doctors had expected Cody to be unconscious. While he tried to deny it, Ryden was very worried. Luckily Cody's brain activity was still healthy and his vitals were stable, but just what was taking him so long?  
Ryden let out a deep sigh, exhausted from being swallowed in his thoughts.   
He put on a black tanktop with his pajama pants and a pair of sneakers to go outside and get some fresh air.  
He sat down on a tree stump not far from his house, kind of looking around at whatever was there. He had expected it to be a little more relaxing. It was alright other than the strange rustling noises that seemed to circle around him.  
What he didn't expect was a phone call from Frankie.

"Why is she calling me? It's the middle of the night?" He thought as he answered and put his phone to his ear.  
"Hello?" He said nonchalantly.  
All he heard was a barrage of blubbering from the other side of the line. Clearly something was wrong.  
"Wait Frankie slow down, I can't understand you." He said calmly.  
"Sorry sorry it-" Frankie seemed to choke on her own words.  
"What's wrong? What's going on?" Now Ryden was really starting to get worried.  
Frankie took in a deep, shaking breath as she tried to calm down. "It-it-it's about Cody!" She screamed out before more choking sobs came through the line.  
Ryden's eyes opened wide, and his breath hitched before he could ask another question.  
"Is he....dead?" He asked.  
The line went silent for a bit as he waited for Frankie to answer.  
"No, but it's still pretty bad." She answered.  
Ryden sighed in relief, but of course it didn't last long.  
"Spit it out Frankie, what's going on?" He said as he tried to keep his hands from shaking.

By now, he felt that sometjing was watching him. He heard sticks cracking underneath something and strange scratching noises from the woods, but he was too shocked by the phone call he was on to bring himself to move.

Frankie breathed deeply again. "Somehow, he's escaped from the hospital."

"You're kidding me right? This is a joke. Please tell me it's a joke!" He pleaded with her.  
"Sadly it's not. My parents and his family are out looking for him now. There was no footage of his escape either and his room was in ruins. The bed was flipped upside down, the IV bags were torn and had blood on them, and the machinery was crushed." Frankie explained further.

Ryden dropped his phone on the ground hearing these words.

"Ryden? Ryden? Are you still there?" He could hear from his phone.

He was frozen in shock. Whatever was watching him had also seemed to have come closer. Now he heard light footsteps in the grass not far from where he was standing. He could hear his own heartbeat in his chest and his palms were sweaty, his breaths were quick and shallow.

Until something, or someone was breathing down his neck.

Before he could react, he was tackled to the ground.


	19. Struggling

"Oof!" Ryden exclaimed as he hit the ground chest first. Then springing into action, he turned over and pushed off whatever had jumped him.  
It was too dark to see what was going on, but he could tell whatever that was, wasn't too happy about being pushed around.

He could also agree with that.

The dark figure lunged forward and Ryden pushed his feet off of the ground, charging towards this unidentified enemy.  
He collided with their shoulder, pushing with his own trying to knock them over. Ryden could tell that this person was no joke, a man who was clearly bigger than he was. He was about to trip him, when he heard muffled noises coming from somewhere.

The figure stopped attacking and looked over their other shoulder.

Something wasn't right.

Ryden took this opportunity to try to tackle him, but he quickly caught on and pushed him to the ground effortlessly. 

As soon as Ryden's head hit the dirt, the man started to sprint off into the distance.

Ryden jumped up and started after him. He was so angry and confused that he couldn't seem to think of a full sentence. Or why he didn't call his parents or 9-1-1. 

The man was fast and Ryden nearly lost sight of him on whatever path they were taking.

"Hey! What are you doing? Stop it!" He called out.

Maybe it was useless to yell, but when you're already mindlessly chasing some random, why not?

He stopped suddenly and turned back towards him. Ryden kept charging at him, but the man wasn't even in a fighting stance. Ryden realised much too late that this was a trap to stop him.

As soon as he reached him, the man snatched Ryden up by the neck, holding him off of the ground and trying to choke him out.

Ryden gasped amd desperately dug hid nails in the man's arm, but it seemed the more he struggled, the worse it got.

He wondered if he should try something else, but what if someone saw? He couldn't risk a human knowing his secret. That may ruin his family's life.  
But he couldn't let himself just die like this could he.

Using the last bit of oxygen that he could breathe in, he clenched his jaw and made his decision.

However, before he could truly act on it a blast of white light sent the man sideways into a tree.  
Ryden dropped to the ground, gasping for air as he watched the man slump down to the ground unconscious.

The sounds of footsteps came from the trees on the other side of the pathway. Ryden was frozen in place again, trying to catch his breath. He dug his nails into the ground, trying to gather the strength to move. He slowly struggled to stand, ready to fight again.

Two pale, scraped up feet appear from the woods. He looked into the eyes of a familiar face who looked as distressed as he did.

"Cody?" He wheezed in shock.


	20. Capture

Cody stood there, unresponsive. His hospital gown was covered in dirt, his hair was long and greasy, he was thin and frail looking, and his eyes were completely white. He looked like he had no idea what was going on.   
He held his hand out in front of him, and felt around for something solid. Slowly and clumsily, he stumbled forward touching the trees around him.

"Wait, can he not see?" Ryden thought with worry. "What is going on here?"

He drug himself forward on the ground, trying to get to Cody.  
"Hey, can you hear me? What's going on?" Ryden gently called out to him.  
Cody stopped, trying to figure out who was talking and where that voice was coming from.  
"Ryden?" His voice was raspy and weak, probably since he hadn't used it in over three months.  
"Yeah, Cody it's me! Stay right there I'm coming to get you." Ryden said.  
Cody leaned on a tree for balance, rubbing his eyes.

Finally reaching him, he grabbed onto Cody's ankle. Cody tried to kick him away immediately.  
"Sorry! Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" Ryden said.  
Cody, dragging his hand down the tree he was on, sat down in front of Ryden.

"What happened to you?" Cody asked.  
"I feel like I should be asking you that first. You are the one who escaped from the hospital after all." Ryden said slyly.  
"Oh, I didn't escape." Cody said.  
"What do you mean?" Ryden asked.  
"That guy you were just being choked by broke in and took me. What he didn't expect was for me to wake up after being disconnected from all those tubes and things." He paused. "I saw that same blue glow on my chest and next thing I knew, he was on the ground and I was running away. I'm not completely sure what I did just now either." Cody said.

"Well I saw it. You used some kind of strange power. Like a powerful energy beam." Ryden didn't know how to explain it, but he had to at least try.

Cody's blank eyes opened wide in surprise. "Well that's new. You got any secret powers Ryden?" He joked.  
Ryden stayed silent. "Well-"

Just as he was about to give his "answer", loud whirring noises sound from the sky. Large people in black suits slid down on ropes, surrounding them. Many were yelling in a language that Cody couldn't understand. A large floating ship shone a white light right into their eyes.  
"Well, at least you can't see all this." Ryden tried to joke.  
"Maybe, but it's still scary to hear it." Cody clung onto Ryden's jacket in fear and Ryden put his arms around him to comfort him.

There was more yelling, it sounded like a command.  
The two of them quickly found out what it was after. The soldiers put on gas masks before a thick purple fog was released from somewhere behind them.  
Ryden fought to stay awake, but as his lungs were becoming filled with gas, he found that he couldn't fight anymore.   
Cody hacked and gasped in his arms as tears filled both of their eyes from the gas.  
"Don't worry Cody, it's going to be okay. Please just stay with me." Ryden pleaded desperately.  
He held onto Cody a little bit tighter, as he finally succumbed to the effects of gas and collapsed.

A soldier tied them together as the gas faded out.   
Thr commander from earlier directed the fleet once again.

"Take them to the ship."


	21. The cell

Ryden could hear muffled speech.

He rolled his still closed eyes. "Ugh. Great, which one of those damn kids is it this time?" He thought, feeling unsurprisingly cranky.

Until he realized that whoever was speaking, wasn't speaking his home language and wouldn't stop shaking him.

"Hey! Ryden! Wake up!" Cody shouted at him, shaking him harder. "Come on!"

Ryden grabbed his wrists to stop him. Cody gasped, shocked.  
Ryden slowly opened his eyes. Cody leaned over him, his eyes were their usual brown again, but puffy and red, and his face was wet with tears.  
"You alright over there Cody? You were shaking me pretty hard." He chuckled.  
Cody immediately drew him into a tight hug. "Oh gosh, I thought I'd lost you." He said.  
Of course Ryden returned the gesture. "I feel like that should be my line, with how long you've been gone at all." He commented.  
"Well how long was I out anyway?" Cody asked.  
"About three and a half months until today of course. What about me?" Ryden said.  
"Well damn that felt a lot shorter. Wait how are you just gonna tell me that I've been unconscious for over three months and then ask about you?" He chuckled. "Well I have no idea, but it sure was longer than how long I was out." He answered.

Ryden let go of Cody and looked at their new surroundings. It was a completely white room except for silver bars that looked into a completely dark area.  
Ryden sighed. "Do you know why they took us?" He asked Cody.  
Cody shook his head. "I have no idea." He said.  
"You think they'll tell us?" He asked.  
"I don't know, I don't really care about that. I just want to go home. I'm sure our families are worried." Cody said, looking down at the floor.  
"Well your family does have those rescue bots on their side. I'm sure they'll find us soon enough." Ryden tried to convince him.  
Cody sighed. "I hope so."

Instead of an awkward silence, they heard heavy foosteps stomping down the dark hallway.  
Cody held tightly onto the sleeve of Ryden's jacket.  
Ryden looked down at Cody and then back to the bars of their cell. 

Slowly bright white lights turned on further down the hall as someone approached their cell. Ryden could feel Cody shaking in fear, and all he could think was that he hoped that they weren't going to die.   
With one last heavy step, Ryden found himself looking up at the commander of the captors, with two guards close behind him.  
He looked like a man, but not quite. He had a long slim face, fully black eyes, pale nearly gray skin, long black hair down to his hips with a sharp widows peak hairline and he wore a golden headband-like crown. He was tall and skinny and wore rich and heavy clothing. His hands had long black claws and his teeth were like a shark's.  
He looked down on them condescendingly, picking dirt out of the nails on his right hand with his thumb.  
"This mission was supposed to be a lot less of a bother if you two would quit running." He spoke. He sounded a lot like he was gurgling his words and his lips seemed to shift uncomfortably as he spoke a foreign language.  
He looked over to Ryden with annoyance. "And you, the Arsinian. We weren't even going after you, but you just had to get in the way."  
Cody looked at him, completely confused. "What is he talking about?"   
"Silence! That wasn't an invitation to speak you dirty human!" He turned to his guards, clearly over this interaction.  
"Take the prisoners to the chamber, we'll see to it that we get what we need." The commander gave Cody a creepy smirk and turned his back to leave.  
The two guards opened the cell doors. The first one forcefully snatched Cody by his arm and held them behind his back. Ryden stood up before the second one could reach him, not wanting to be snatched like that. The guard didn't seem to care and simply went with it.

"I guess you got the lucky guard." Cody whispered.  
"We're still going to some "chamber" though, so it's not all sunshine and roses." Ryden said.  
"So you're just not gonna tell me what that guy was talking about back there?" Cody asked with a half smile.  
"It's not important really.." Ryden lied.  
"If it's not important then why do you feel the need to hide it from me? You don't trust me?" Cody asked.  
Ryden shook his head. "No, that's not it at all. I just, don't know what to say." He said sheepishly.  
"Well I'd rather hear it from you than from our alien kidnapper, so make up your mind." Cody said.  
"I'll try." Ryden said.  
"Ugh, shut it!" Cody's guard yelled at them. "Do you ever not talk. Quit!"   
Ryden and Cody made eye contact with worried expressions and nodded. Hopefully the chamber wouldn't be too bad.


	22. Outcome

As soon as they were let into the so called "chamber" , Cody and Ryden were forcefully thrown onto the floor in front of the feet of the commander.

The room was mostly empty and had many bright white lights on the ceiling and upper walls. There were two metal chairs at the back end of the room with restraints attached to them. Twenty guards stood at attention along the walls and the commander stood over them in the center of it all.

"Nice of you to join us." He gurgled. He pointed to four of the guards in the room and shouted something at them. They immediatly sprung into action, lifting up Cody and Ryden onto the two chairs at the end of the room. Each of them was tightly chained to the chair by the wrists, chests, and ankles.

"What do you want from me?" Cody shouted in frustration.  
The commander turned around towards him with his right index finger on his chin.  
"I was getting to that, be patient human." He said.

He walked over to a table that had a remote and some other things that Cody couldn't quite identify, but one looked like a control panel.  
The commander picked up the remote and pressed a large red button in the center.  
Cody immediately felt the effects. The center of his chest glowed blue and his veins did the same. He felt an unpleasant tingling sensation throughout his body coupled with itches. At least it wasn't painful.  
The commander oressed the button again and turned that effect off.

"Now, for the story." He said. "Five months ago, my crew and I travled to a distant galaxy and stole a very valuable Aruma diamond from the mines, they are very rare and with that one being such a large size it could give us as you human say "a pretty penny" if we were to sell it. But we could also have more power for ourselves or the ship in terms of strength." He started to explain.

Cody and Ryden stayed completely still, watching the commander's every move nervously.

"We were still deciding what to do with it about a month later, when were attacked. Police from Aruma had been tracking our ship and had finally caught up to us at your moon. We managed to fight them off and destroy their ship, but the diamond become loose from it's case and through a hole in the ship it fell through. We did not notice until we had flown halfway to another galaxy a month and a half later. We turned back to look for it and found out that when it entered the Earth's atmosphere it split up and fell in many different places, but you have the largest piece just beside your heart. So of course we had to get it back." The commander finished.

"What are you gonna do to me?" Cody asked shakily.

"Extract the diamond of course, what else? Though it is most likely to kill you and maybe even your friend beside you once it's exposed." He said

Cody's eyes opened wide and his face turned red. "Wait, you don't have to do this! It might not have as much power now that it's broken! Plus you could get another one, right?" He pleaded.

The commander rolled his eyes. "Little boy didn't I just say that the diamond is rare? And trust me it'll be fine once we find all of the other pieces. I'm sure you understand." He said.

Suddenly a guard spoke up. He sounded very excited and spoke quickly. The commander's face instantly went from irritated to intrigued.

"Oh What luck! It seems that your friend also has a piece." He said.

Ryden was surprised and accidently spoke his thoughts aloud.

"How did I not notice that?" He thought.

The commsnder rolled his eyes again. "Pshh! Of course you didn't, you Arsinians I swear you're all big dumb brutes." He chortled.

"Again?" Cody asked Ryden.

The commander smiled evily. "Oh right, I forgot to fill you in on that human. You see, your friend here isn't exactly who you think he is."

"You don't have to say all that, I was going to tell him myself!" Ryden shouted.

"But were you though?" The commander turned back to Cody. "You see. He is not only a liar, he's not even human!" The commander said.

"Ryden what is he talking about?" Cody asked.  
Ryden only looked down at his lap.

"He is an Arsinian if course! An alien from a distant galaxy that you couldn't even imagine. They are twice as large and stronge as you humans and some have supernatural abilities to boot! Just not twice as smart it seems." He said. "I'm sure that's not even his real form."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Cody asked.

Ryden sighed. "I thought you'd think I was a freak ir something, maybe you wouldn't even want to be friends with me anymore." He explained.

"Dude, I literally live with giant metal aliens. Whatever's going on with you, I can handle." Cody said.

"I know, it was stupid." Ryden said.

Cody chuckled. "It would be nice to hear about your real travels."

Ryden raised his left eyebrow at him with a small smile. "Well maybe I could tell your more sometime." He said.

"Okay! Enough you saps, I've got work to do." He called on the guards and they brought in a large operating machine. All Cody could see were the large, sharp object just inches away from his face. Ryden didn't know exactly if this would work, but he suddenly got an idea.

"Wait! What if you don't have to take the diamond pieces out?" He siggested.

"What are you doing?" Cody wgispered harshly.

"Don't worry, I've got this." He replied.

The Commander snarled at him. "What do you mean? That's the whole point of what we're doing?" He said.

"But I know that you guys are also really keen on research, technology, and power. What if you were to study this a little longer?" Ryden said.

"Explain." The comander demanded.

"Well tje Diamond gave Cody some type of powers of his own and it could have enhanced mine. What I'm saying is, what if you wete to study the effects of an Aruma diamond on a human and an Arsinian and gather research and sell that for you "pretty penny" that you're after?" Ryden cotinued.

The commander swuinted at him, thinking of what to say. A long heavy silence followed, before he shouted at the guards using the machine. On his command, they backed it away from Cody.

He smirked. "Maybe I was wrong about all you Arsinians being dumb brutes, your plan just might work."

"Does that mean that we can go?" Cody asked excitedly.

"Of course, but the only thing is that you can't tell anyone." The Commander replied.

"We won't, we promise!" Ryden said.

"Yeah, our lips are sealed!" Cody agreed.

"Sure they are, but as a precaution we'll have to make sure of that." The Commander said.

"What?" Ryden asked.

He snapped his fingers, and two other guards wheeled in another machine. It looked like a large, stereotypical ray gun and was pointed right at them.

"Because you won't remember this. No one will." He revealed darkly.


End file.
